I really can't say anything else that hasn't already been said.
But hopefully you still read what I have to say (it's not all negative, I promise). I'm not happy about the ending. I'm not happy with it for a couple of reasons. On a surface level (just focusing on the physical ending itself), it's abrupt, incoherent and lacks any resolution. It doesn't bother me that the ending itself is tragic. It's how it was executed and told. Let me try to explain it in a way that best replicates my experience:
I just got done fighting an epic battle. I'm on earth, and after 99 + hours of playing one of the most epic stories of my lifetime, I'm making the final push for humanity. As I run to towards the Citadel in a gripping sequence, I get hit by a laser. From here on out..I'm thrust into this slow motion dream like state. As I stumble to the light, I'm taken to a room where a god like figure tells me that everything I had thought was wrong (and what I thought was one of the main motivations for me fighting). And while I could even accept this notion (I mean, Reapers were ancient technology, and we knew little about them), to then be told that there is only three options...even though Shepard could have said no to all three, was one of the most deflating experiences in my life. For a game that was full of choice, that asked me (the player) to help shape the story, I'm now forced to pick three options, all equally compromising of Shepard and everything she stood for. And EVEN that I might accept, had Shepard at least fought against it at first. Had she tried to reason with the AI, and make an argument for life in the galaxy. But nope, she just went along with it. Didn't even question what was being said, and gives in, throwing out everything that made her, well...Shepard.
So after being pulled mid-climax from the story and whisked away in a room where some God figure tells me how things are, the game cuts to a 3 min segment of footage. None of it follows a logical progression, and time is missing in between. Why is Joker flying away from Earth? How did he get to the new planet? How did my entire squad go from being on earth with me, to being on the Normandy safe and sound? For a 100+ hour trilogy, this as an ending is just baffling. It literally doesn't fit with the narrative.
Imagine reading an epic book, and the book stops on the 2nd to last chapter, mid climax. Then a new character that has had nothing to do with your entire adventure is introduced and tells you everything you fought for is wrong, and then you are forced to make choices that are against your very being. And then the final chapter after that was just a bunch of events described with no order to how they happened. This is how Mass Effect 3 ends.
So regardless of how ones feels about the ending (good, bad, philosophically, thematically) - it's just a bad ending in general.
And I haven't even gotten into the plot holes, lore errors, the illogical nature and the cheapness that is the Star Child. Essentially you decided to introduce a new character at the very last second of the entire trilogy, who then takes control of the story. The reasoning for the reapers is just non-sense. We created synthetics to kill you every 50k year, so you don't create synthetics to...kill yourself. Okay...so why don't they just kill synthetics? The Reapers are certainly powerful enough, why not just wipe out synthetics. If the end goal is to not kill organic life, then why kill them at all? Especially in those large of numbers. There really is no REASON behind why they Reapers are doing what they are doing. In the original script with the Dark energy plot, they at least had a purpose for doing what they are doing. But even if I did buy into this logic, why didn't Shepard just de-program the Catalyst? Why didn't she fight for life to be able to destroy the reapers, and try to solve their problems themselves?
Now the good. I can honestly say prior to the ending, this was one of the most emotional experiences I've had out of any game/tv/movie/book. I've never been this emotionally attached and moved by characters and plot. I actually cried during this game, and on numerous occasions. For me, this was your best story-driven game to date (especially within the series). The pacing was phenomenal, and almost every mission had high stakes. Had moments of closure and finality. The fact that you were able to cover so many stories from past games, and bring resolution to them was breathtaking.
I think what makes Mass Effect so special, is that it deals with very human themes that are relevant today. This idea of: is it worth giving up free will, if it means being safer or protecting future life? Or is it better to have danger, to die, if it means remaining free. Especially today, these are VERY important themes. And so, the irony is that for 99% of the game - Shepard and our characters fought to be free. But when all was said and done, Shepard rolled over and gave into the Star Child. Accepting his terms. Not truly using her free will. This to me, was the ultimate failure of Mass Effect's ending.
The positive to take away from this is that you guys did a lot right. Believe me, you did. People wouldn't be this upset if they didn't love the games so dearly. If there very souls weren't touched by the deeper messages of the game. But it's this very reason that people feel more endings should be added (or an extension/clarification is needed). This is was not the end of Mass Effect 3. You guys are better than this. The story is better than this.
Modifié par Linus108, 16 mars 2012 - 05:48 .
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